Poly Jackrabbits vs. Esperanza Aztecs
Saturday @ Valencia High School (directions/map below), 7pm
CIFSS Playoffs Round 2
The upset of the first round was Bishop Amat beating Poly for the first 46 minutes of their game—after that, the Jackrabbits scored and went on to win the game, 21-17. What will Poly need to do to keep rolling on the road against Esperanza this week? Check it out:
We think Morgan Fennell’s gotten a bad rap. In the second half of the season, he was 30/51 for 618 yards, ten TDs, and no picks—for a QB rating of over 141. What we learned last week against Bishop Amat was that Fennell will only be successful when the run game has been established—on their way to a 10-0 deficit at the end of the first half, they threw the ball more in the first half than they usually throw in an entire game. In the second half, it was obvious that the focus had changed back to the run game, as Melvin Richardson and Daveon “Burner” Barner scored three TDs, rushed for nearly 200 yards (both hopping over the 1,000 yard mark on the season), and brought home the win. Yes, Fennell can be an effective and accurate passer—but the ‘Rabbits will need to establish the run before they take to the skies. The Esperanza defense has been stingy all year, giving up about 11 points a game—other than 35 points given up to Newport Harbor, they haven’t allowed more than three TDs to anyone all season.
For Poly’s defense, things look a little clearer—on paper, this is a great matchup game. The Aztecs are a running team, and nobody stops the run better than Poly. Esperanza has run the ball nearly four hundred times this season, and only thrown it 60—with linebackers Kenny Tuiloma, George Daily-Lyles, and Matt Jones, and their huge, physical line, they should be able to grind up the Aztecs. When they took on Compton, the Tarbabes were averaging over 400 yards a game, and Poly completely shut them down.
Esperanza, like Compton, runs the wing-T—but they use a different scheme, and Poly will have to adjust to that. The Aztecs run the classic Delaware wing-T, which is going to have more option plays and more backs getting the ball. In the basic Compton set, only two backs will get the ball on 90% of the plays—for the Aztecs, they have four backs with over 50 carries this season, and it will take a little extra effort for Poly’s D to sniff out the ball carrier. The main threat will be Jared Moore, who has gotten the most touches, and has scored 8 touchdowns with an average of 6 yards per rush. The Aztecs are also incredibly disciplined, and Poly will need to not make mistakes like personal foul penalties, because those could very well give Esperanza the advantage.
Basically, expect a total of 15 passes, maybe 20 total in this game. It’s going to be on the road, so if you want to come support the local team in their biggest challenge yet this year, check out our directions below, from the Pyramid out to Bradford Stadium in Placentia.